Editorial Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, UNEP Miles to go before we relax Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, assesses progress over ten years of action on poverty reduction and development, and sets out priorities for the decade ahead Practical consensus Dr Nafis Sadik, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for HIV/AIDS in Asia and formerly Executive Director, UNFPA and Secretary- General, International Conference on Population and Development. Board member, United Nations Foundation, describes progress and setbacks since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo ten years ago Power shift Lena Sommestad, Minister for the Environment, Sweden, and Rejoice Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa. Co-chairs of the Network of Women Ministers of the Environment, describe how empowering women is vital for improving health and the environment through the provision of adequate water and sanitation Equally effective Mary Robinson, formerly President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Executive Director, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, explains that gender equality must be the core of any successful approach to combating HIV/AIDS People Peace of mind, piece of land Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary, UNCCD, Executive Director, UNIFEM, describes the impact of AIDS on women and girls and calls for specific measures to give them access to land and water The young ones Kathryn Bushkin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, United Nations Foundation, explains the importance of adolescent girls to our global future, and describes a programme that is giving them hope and skills for life Fuelling change Dr Mamphela Ramphele, retiring Managing Director, World Bank and Senior Advisor to its President, describes how collecting and burning wood and biomass damages women’s health and the environment, and how household electricity revolutionizes their lives

At a glance: Women, health and the environment Aishwarya Rai The Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai describes a unique attempt to tackle the spread of HIV/AIDS among women in India Unprecedented opportunity Senator Marina Silva, member of Brazil’s Federal Senate and Minister for the Environment, describes her work, as her country’s first woman environment minister, to implement sustainable development policies that promote social and environmental health Books and products Chemical inheritance Margot Wallström, European Commissioner for Environment, describes how mothers and their babies are at risk from a host of little-understood substances, and outlines steps to test and control them Toxic trespass Sharyle Patton, Director, Health and Environment Program, Commonweal, describes how a chemical invasion of women’s bodies threatens the rights they have so recently won First empower Adrienne Germain, President, International Women’s Health Coalition, says that securing women’s rights is the key to ensuring their health and to protecting the environment Citizen engagement Lois Abraham, attorney, and Jane Roberts, retired schoolteacher, co-founders of 34 Million Friends of UNFPA, describe how ordinary Americans have flocked to back United Nations activities on population and development Adding feminine perspective Beverly Miller, Secretary, Governing Council of UNEP, describes UNEP’s work to integrate gender issues into environment and development programmes After all ‘nature’ is female... Ana Lorena Gudiño Valdez, graduate in biology and member of the Youth Environmental Network of Mexico Extra web-only article: A unique voice Laura Liswood, Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders and International Assembly of Women Ministers, describes how the Network of Women Ministers of the Environment is bringing new approaches to meeting global environmental challenges